by Steven Ertelt | Washington, DC | LifeNews.com | 3/6/14 12:14 PM

A new CNN poll released today confirms what prior CNN polls and others have consistently shown in recent years — that a majority of Americans want all or most all abortions made illegal.

The CNN/ORC International survey also indicates that a majority opposes taxpayer money being used to pay for abortions.

According to the CNN survey, 20% say abortion should always be illegal and 38% say most abortions should be illegal — making it so 58 percent of Americans oppose all or virtually all abortions. Just 27% of Americans side with Planned Parenthood and President Barack Obama in saying abortions should always be legal. Another 13 percent say abortion should be legal in most cases, making it so only 40 percent of Americans generally favor legalized abortion in most instances.

CNN Polling Director Keating Holland pointed out additional results: “Republicans are twice as likely as Democrats to say that abortion should always be illegal. But only a minority of the rank-and-file members of both parties take an extreme position on the issue, with just 31% of Republicans calling for a complete ban on abortion and just 32% of Democrats saying that abortion should be legal in all circumstances.”

As CNN notes, “Most Americans have never favored using public funds for abortions for women who cannot afford them. According to the survey, 56% remain opposed, with only 39% favoring public funding for abortions.”

Americans United for Life told LifeNews, “Ending public funding of abortion is the most obvious common ground in America. This poll underscores the need to protect American taxpayers from coerced funding of abortion and life-ending drugs and devices. Given what we know about the dangerous, even deadly, impact of abortion on women and their unborn children, we must act to end the forced participation in taxpayer funding of Big Abortion.”

“Politically insulated and coddled by powerful, partisan friends and allies, the abortion lobby and its business interests have prospered on taxpayer funds and subsidies,” said Yoest. “Consider this, the nation’s largest abortion provider Planned Parenthood received more than $540 million in taxpayer monies, nearly half of its $1.2 billion in revenue. How many people realize that so many millions in taxpayer monies support the abortion industry leader? And how many people understand that coercive polices in Obamacare compel the support of a life-ending agenda, such as the HHS mandate?”

The new survey confirms past CNN polls also showing most Americans oppose all or most abortions.

A 2011 CNN national poll of Americans showed 62% of Americans want all or most abortions made illegal.  In April 2009, CNN showed Americans wanted to prohibit most or all abortions by a 64-34 percentage point margin. The margin was 63-36% in November 2008, 61%-37% in June 2008, 62-36% in October 2007, and 64-34 percent in September 2006.

Historically, the pro-life movement has shifted public opinion against abortion as CNN found a 55-41 percent pro-life split in May 2001, and a 56-41 percent split in February 1995.

The poll was conducted for CNN by ORC International from Jan. 31 through Feb. 2, with 1,010 adults nationwide questioned by telephone. The survey’s overall sampling error is plus or minus three percentage points.